DeMar DeRozan’s been steady climbing for a while now. He’s averaged at least 20 a game for the last three seasons. And this season, the Compton-born All-Star’s leading the League in scoring, putting up 33 each night out.

That success doesn’t happen over night, though. We all see him shine, but few of us see him grind. But thanks to Spalding and this brand new video, the curtain’s being lifted for a look at what DeRozan’s work ethic really looks like.

It’s the day before Buddy Hield’s Pro Day—when the Landmark Sports client will work out in front of NBA teams figuring out how high he should be picked—and the reigning Naismith POY is warming up in the gym at the Saddleback Valley Sports Center in Lake Forest, CA. Hield’s about to do a dry run of the workout he’ll go through tomorrow, though “dry” is perhaps not the best word. With a loud mix of dancehall music blasting (“That’s my man Tiko T from The Bahamas. I listen to him live every Thursday,” Buddy says later with a smile) and the warmup getting progressively, well, warmer, his “Buddy Buckets” tee is soon soaked through with sweat.

At the other end of the gym, I sit at a table alongside some copies of SLAM Presents KOBE. Sitting across from me is Miguel Bennett, President of Basketball Operations for Open Gym Premier, the outfit that’s been working out the Bahamian superstar the last few weeks. As Bennett thumbs through the KOBE issue, I tell him I’ve heard Buddy does some super-intense late-night shooting workouts, usually with his local music blasting. “This guy is just a beast,” he says. “He’s been doing three workouts a day and keeping a very strict regimen. Sometimes he’ll come back to the gym and shoot even more, after he’s done three full workouts.” A former standout at DIII Chapman University who has been working out high-level players in the OC for a decade, Bennett pauses. “Really, the only guy I can compare his work ethic to is this guy,” he says, holding the KOBE issue up. “I’ve never seen anyone work harder than Kobe. But Buddy’s close.”

Suddenly, it starts to make sense how a kid who grew up in the modest village of Eight Mile Rock could be less than a month away from shaking the NBA commissioner’s hand and cashing NBA checks. After all, a long shot like Hield needed more than just the ability to make long shots.

After his workout ends and he cools off, the 6-4 shooting guard who just graduated from Oklahoma sits down to explain how he got here. “My friends and my family didn’t love basketball, but I just fell in love with it,” recalls Hield. “I used to wake my friends up in the morning, knock on their windows, let’s go to the court. They’d say, ‘Buddy, go home. It’s too early for this.’ We’d all play but they never took it serious like I did.”

Without friends or family members (“Everyone in my family ran track,” he says) to push his game, nor many role models in his entire country (the most famous Bahamian player before Buddy was NBA Champ Mychal Thompson, who has lived in the States far longer than Buddy’s been alive), Hield really had just two sources to learn the game: TV and his incredible imagination. “I would watch guys like Kobe and Allen Iverson on TV, and then try and mimic their moves,” he remembers. “And when we’d play three-on-three or full-court, I would try those moves and try to perfect them each and every day.

“Even when I wasn’t tall yet, I had a lot of heart. Whatever I put my mind to, I accomplished. To be honest, I used to be so stubborn. I thought I could have made it to the NBA when I was just coming out of high school when they had that rule. I thought I was that good. My friends would laugh at me. But I always had that mindset that I was good enough to play in the NBA. I just had to get my chance to do it and prove it.”

The proving began on a wider scale at Wichita (KS) Sunrise Christian, where Hield played after being discovered at a showcase in The Bahamas. It continued in Norman, where he was named the Sooners’ Most Inspirational Player as a freshman and won Big 12 POY as a junior. Still, there was one more bout of doubt. “Last summer, between my junior year and senior year, is when I really exploded to the player I want to be,” Hield says. “You’re the Big 12 Player of the Year but not on everybody’s first-round Draft board, so you kind of feel embarrassed. That made me work so hard to become the player I wanted to become. When I came back last season, I had the mindset that I’m going to kill everybody from tip until the end.”

That’s an accurate description of what Hield did in a season that saw him sweep national individual honors while averaging 25 ppg and leading OU to the Final Four. And in the unlikely event he loses the hunger that’s gotten him this far, words from his mom will straighten him out. “Sometimes you just want to give up when you’re working out hard each and every day,” Hield says. “But my mom always reminds me, ‘Remember the kid back in the park who didn’t have nothing.’ So I remember what got me here and I never lose my edge and I never forget where I came from.”

Some cool news from our friends at Spalding today, in partnership with a pair of NBA stars you may know:

Today, Spalding reignites the passion of basketball fans everywhere in an integrated campaign for the iconic brand. Called #TrueBelievers, the campaign begins a movement around those who have the uncompromising confidence needed to defy all odds and obstacles.

To fuel that movement, Spalding is building a global, multi-platform world around the modern player’s lifestyle. This non-traditional approach leverages social media and digital content in ways that spark people to share their own True Believers spirit.

Amplified by NBA superstars Damian Lillard of the Portland Trail Blazers and DeMar DeRozan of the Toronto Raptors, who will engage in a special Periscope interview on Feb. 3rd prior to their showdown in Portland on Feb. 4th. The gentlemen will discuss their upcoming match-up and what it means to be a True Believer. The #TrueBelievers rallying cry will also be heard via digital takeovers on NBA.com and BleacherReport.com websites. The multi-platform campaign includes layers of video-storytelling, rich media, events, a robust social media presence and a new content hub on TrueBelievers.Spalding.com featuring the Spalding Nickname Generator.

By answering a series of quick, yet intuitive questions, consumers can generate a Nickname, which is then delivered to them by brand endorsers Lillard and DeRozan. These unique names will be created for True Believers to discover and share on their social networks. For a limited time every consumer who generates a nickname will be entered to win a trip to the NBA Finals.

Follow @spaldingball on Instagram to join the movement. Join the conversation by following @spalding on Twitter and tune into YouTube.com/Spalding to see what True Believers are all about. Explore the world of #TrueBelievers and see them in action at TrueBelievers.Spalding.com.

When he was in 10th grade, Damian Lillard was T’d up for celebrating what should’ve been a game-winning bucket by ripping off his shirt—an illegal move in the world of high school basketball—and the ensuing free throw lost his team the game. Nowadays, when he drops in a buzzer-beater, Dame’s face stays stone cold. Point being: Portland’s star PG was heavily influenced by his upbringing, and he still carries the Oakland streets he grew up on with him every day. We spoke with the 25-year-old about his Bay Area roots.

SLAM: What are your earliest basketball memories?

Damian Lillard: Just shooting from across the street with the rounded curb and then it bounced back and hit the street—just learning how to shoot like that. Shooting on the street with my cousins. Shooting on milk crates on telephone poles. We had tree branches that were shaped like a hoop—it was a branch that came off of the tree that looped around like the front of the rim. So we would be shooting over it like it was the front of the rim.

SLAM: You grew up in a rough part of East Oakland—who kept you on the basketball path?

DL: My dad. He was just always pushing me to do things. Before I played on the AAU team, he was like, “Man, I got this traveling team you can play on. You’ll get to meet new people.” That was in, like, the fifth grade. When I started doing that, that’s a whole summer of practice, tournaments, traveling. So that’s taking me out of Oakland enough for the summer. That’s where I grew that serious love for it and wanted to be a part of it. So I give a lot of credit to him.

SLAM: I know you had a run-in with Steve Francis at a young age. Do you remember meeting any other players or coaches when you were growing up?

DL: The one with Steve Francis, that was the only real run-in that I had that was just him standing there. But me and my brother used to sneak in the back at Golden State games all the time. We’d be right outside their locker room when they were going to the parking lot. We would meet them all the time. That was like Adonal Foyle, Tony Farmer, Mookie Blaylock.

SLAM: Who were your favorite players?

DL: I was a fan of Mookie. I liked Chris Mills. I was a fan of Antawn Jamison, Larry Hughes, Gilbert Arenas, Jason Richardson. All those guys.

SLAM: If we were walking around Oakland and I asked you to bring me to the one place that was really crucial for your basketball development, where would we go?

DL: To the rec center. That helped my growth a lot. Going there, playing against all the older kids. There was one full court and two baskets on each side. There was somebody playing on each one, every day. If you wanted to play, you had to compete. If you wanted the court, you had to play. You couldn’t be scared. People got mad and one thing led to another and fighting broke out and all kinda stuff. You coming on your own, you gotta defend yourself and be willing to play against bigger kids. That situation was huge for my growth.

SLAM: Did you play outside much?

DL: Yeah. The neighborhood I grew up in, there’s an elementary school in the neighborhood, and they had outside courts. And the rims were super low, like 7.5, 8 feet. So we would go hoop over there so we could dunk.

SLAM: Do you remember the first NBA jersey you owned?

DL: A Miami Heat jersey. I got it at All-Star Weekend. It was 2000. All-Star Weekend was in Oakland. I remember I got a Miami Heat jersey, but I put my name and number on it. I don’t know where it is now, I’m pretty sure if I go back to my dad’s house in Oakland, it’s somewhere in there.

SLAM: How about your first ball?

DL: I was like 10. My first Spalding ball—my dad ordered it off Eastbay Magazine. I’d take it to the rec—I actually left it up there. I had it for a whole summer and then toward the end of the summer I left it in the gym one day and I haven’t seen it since.

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Adam Figman is a Senior Editor at SLAM. Follow him on Twitter @afigman.

Image via Getty

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Share your photo with #TrueToTheGame #Sweeps on Twitter and Instagram for a chance to win Spalding NBA product, exciting trips and more. Visit spaldingtruetothegame.com to get in the game.

The SLAM giveaway pack—consisting of an official Spalding ball, a New Era Bulls hat, five pairs of Stance socks, our two latest issues, and some rare SLAM swag is officially up for grabs. For a chance to win, you must follow @slamonline on Instagram, @ mention us, and use hashtag #SLAMPackContest on your Instagram post of a recent picture you took of your favorite SLAM issue. In addition, you must explain to us why that particular issue is your favorite. It’s as easy as that, and you could get your hands on some dope stuff.

With spring tournaments just around the corner, AAU and Spalding announced a multi-year, multi-sports deal earlier today. More info from Spalding is below: Spalding and the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) announced

Spalding and the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) announced today a multi-year partnership in which the premier sporting goods provider and largest basketball equipment supplier in the world will serve as the official ball of AAU for basketball, baseball, football and softball including championship play.

The partnership will also provide Spalding and the AAU with co-branded marketing and retail opportunities across advertising, digital and grass roots platforms. .

“Our alignment with AAU is a natural fit given our shared philosophy of competitive play and passion for sport,” said Paul Sullivan, Senior Vice President and General Manager of Spalding. “With more than 670,000 participants, AAU assembles some of the nation’s most elite amateur competitors and presents a great opportunity for Spalding to expand its reach with an important demographic.”

The AAU is one of the largest, non-profit, volunteer, sports organizations in the United States. A multi-sport organization, the AAU is dedicated exclusively to the promotion and development of amateur sports and physical fitness programs.

“We are pleased to align with Spalding, an iconic and innovative sporting goods brand because we are committed to providing our athletes with a best in class experience including equipment that enables them to play their best game. Spalding delivers across multiple categories,” said Dr. Roger Goudy, president of AAU.

The pride and joy of Glens Falls, NY, Jimmer Fredette, has added another element to his resume: His own sneaker. Fredette has teamed up with Spalding to create the “Slash” which were released via web earlier this week. According to the official Spalding Slash product description, the new hoops sneaker is built with a lightweight mesh upper, high-abrasion carbon rubber outsole, and D30 shock absorption and rebound technology for cushioning and bounce. While the above photos feature a “Jimmer” badge, it is unclear whether that insignia will be released to the public. They retail for $90.